Hip-O Records
2001
Anthology
About This Album
As of its 2001 release, there are at least three other single-disc compilations of John Hiatt's prolific career available, but none truly does justice to his immense body of work. Until now. This intelligently collected, sequenced, and annotated double pack delivers 40 tracks covering 15 of Haitt's albums from his inauspicious yet refreshingly naive debut (1974's Hangin' Around the Observatory) to 2000's all-acoustic Crossing Muddy Waters, a return of sorts to his rural roots. Fans may quibble with the song selection, lack of previously unreleased material, and the inclusion of only one rarity ("Spyboy," his Jack Nitzsche-produced contribution to the obscure Cruising soundtrack), but this is as close to a perfect summation of Hiatt's career through 2001 as one could hope for without expanding to the box set he probably deserves. Hip-O thoughtfully licenses tracks from Sony, Capitol, Reprise (for Little Village's "Don't Think About Her..."), and Vanguard, in addition to including hefty chunks of his defining A&M years as well as the more spotty yet essential MCA and Geffen work. The overall effect is staggering in its stylistic diversity and sheer volume of ruggedly melodic singer/songwriter tunes.
Track List

Disc 1 (try tracks 1,2,3,4,5,6,8,11,13,14,15,16 and 19)

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Disc 2 (try tracks 4,6,9,12,15 and 16)

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